Fifteen Years Ago Today, Techdirt Was Born

from the feeling-old dept

We don't tend to be too sentimental about these things, but a few weeks back, I realized that we were rapidly approaching the 15th anniversary of the start of Techdirt in its earliest form. On August 23rd, 1997, I sent out the very first "Up To Date" email newsletter, which was roughly modeled on Danny O'Brien's much more clever and much more knowledgeable (and sadly missed) Need to Know newsletter (for what it's worth, Danny discovered my mimicry a few months later, and has always been quite kind about it). The very first newsletter was sent to -- I believe -- three people, and was really an alpha test of the concept. It's obviously quite different from what Techdirt became, but you can also see some inklings. Some of the things in the newsletter were silly (underestimating HTTP as a protocol? Oops!). Some were pretty good predictions (CNET's SNAP portal being a joke, Netscape trying to charge for its browser being a recipe for failure).

Either way, today marks 15 years of doing this in one form or another. One week after this initial test, the newsletter went out to about 100 people -- mostly fellow students at Cornell's business school. A month later we were up to about 1,000 subscribers, and it built from there. By February of the next year the website finally came into existence (and with it, the Techdirt name, which beat out my second choice "bluedot" because a friend told me that sounded boring, while Techdirt sounded edgy). A year after that, the site itself morphed into a blog -- though the word "blog" still didn't exist -- using Slashcode 0.3 (which was a complete mess). And within a few years it was a part of my full time job.

Anyway, I wanted to share the moment, as I figured some of you might get a kick out of seeing that original offering. We're hoping to put together some sort of gathering in the fall to celebrate this anniversary (too much stuff going on to have it coincide with the actual date) and we'll share more info on that as we finalize those plans. Either way, none of the last 15 years happens without you folks being dedicated readers, commenters, submitters, link spreaders, etc. From starting out with a total audience of 3 people to the millions who now read our content every month, it's been quite a ride so far, and I hope to continue going strong for at least another fifteen years.

Hmm, let's see

Coincidentally, I'm fairly certain that fifteen years ago this day, I was fifteen years old and saw my very first real life, in-person booby. In other words, it's nice and rather synergistic that this is a meaningful day for the both of us.

Kidding aside, congrats Techdirt and Techdirt-ers. I couldn't be prouder to be a small part of it....

Re: Re: Re: Hmm, let's see

Someone with some art skills design a shirt/hoodie for Mike's family that says "My dad/husband ran a blog for 15 years and all I got was this lousy shirt" bonus points if you include the "Eagle" on it.

15 years old.

Good job, and thanks.

So funny. About a month or so ago I decided to take a look at the first TD article. It was fun to go along and see the evolution of TD.

What really appealed to me about TD was the totally open comments section. No email/password nothing. I could come here and join in the conversations with no roadblocks. No held for moderation. Just a free and open community that was passionate about fair copyright and government law. A non conspiracy look at the absurd laws being written that remove freedoms and culture.

I was hooked. And to this day I still read every article.
Thanks guys.

I haven't been following this blog for very long (Only got started when SOPA/PIPA first started getting more word), but it's been great. Congratulations, guys, and here's to at least a few more years of going strong!

Interesting

Maybe I'm more interested in the business side for my own good, but I would love to hear about how you created this into a full time job. I do have to congratulate a person that has a very successful community that was built up over time.

Re: I got that second week's newsletter

That's right... Derek's one of the original bunch and has stuck around the whole time... And, good catch. :) I actually saw that typo and debated fixing it before posting this, but I worried about what making a change to an article that old might do to the system.

monumental waste of 15 years

in those LONG years, what have you achieved ?? looks like basically NOTHING.. .

I wonder what the next 15 years will bring you in the way of achievments..

how very very sad,

15 years of winging, and still no one cares.. I wonder why after 15 years of calling for reforms and changes, none have gone your way.. seems the opposite allways happens from what you say is going to happen..

Long live HTTP, possibly you should have given up then, and actually goten a real job.

Happy Anniversary!

Mike and team, Techdirt has been a part of my daily read for only 4 years but I look forward to it everyday. I share links to Techdirt with friends and on public forums. Thank you all for your insight, excellent writing, common sense and for the entertainment; it's great content!!